A user environment, such as a residence or an office building for example, may include a load control system that may be installed therein for controlling electrical loads. The load control system may include various types of load control devices for controlling the electrical loads. The load control devices include lighting control devices (e.g., dimmer switches, ballasts, or light-emitting diode (LED) drivers) for controlling an amount of power provided to lighting loads, motorized window treatments for controlling the position of covering materials that may be mounted in front of windows or openings, thermostats for controlling heating and cooling systems, and alternating-current (AC) plug-in load control devices for controlling an amount of power provided to floor lamps, table lamps, or an electrical load of an appliance or other device that is plugged in to the AC plug-in load control device. The load control system includes a system controller, such as a server or similar computing device for example, that is used to send messages to the load control devices for controlling the electrical loads in response to information received from various input devices, such as a daylight sensor that senses the amount of natural daylight in the load control environment, an occupancy sensor that senses an occupancy status in the load control environment, a radio window sensor that senses the amount of daylight being received from outside of the load control environment, or a remote control device that is used for manually controlling the load control devices.
In current load control systems, the system controller maintains automated control information that is used to perform automated control of the motorized window treatments. The automated control of the motorized window treatments is coordinated with the control of the other electrical load control devices, such as the lighting control devices and the control devices of the heating and cooling systems, to conserve energy and increase comfort to occupants. The automated control information indicates various positions to which the covering material should be adjusted throughout the course of a day. The system controller overrides the automated control of the motorized window treatments when the amount of daylight in the load control environment rises above or below predefined thresholds to decrease or increase, respectively, the amount of daylight in the load control environment.
A user of the load control system, such as a building manager, resident, or occupant of the load control environment, may access the system controller via a workstation (e.g., desktop or laptop computer) to access and configure settings for controlling load control devices in the load control system. For example, the user may access the settings for automated control of the motorized window treatments and the settings for overriding the automated control of the motorized window treatments.
Though users may be able to access and configure settings for controlling load control devices in the load control system, the users may be unaware of the adjustments to be made. Additionally, information about the load control system cannot be easily accessed or configured. For example, the user may be unaware of the proper changes to make to the settings for the automated control of the motorized window treatments or the settings for overriding the automated control of the motorized window treatments. This may be due to a lack of useful information regarding the system operation and/or a presentation of the information in a useful format (e.g., too many settings being displayed causing confusion and difficulty to the user). As a result, system configuration is not easily performed and, when performed, may not accurately reflect the user's desired configuration.